Heaven and Hell (BlackSabbath) @ Thebarton Theatre(05/08/07

Tue 7th Aug, 2007 in Gig Reviews

Before this gig, I really wondered what sort of crowd would turn up to this particular show. Although there was the vibe that this was a Black Sabbath gig, technically, the official title of the band was simply Heaven and Hell for this tour. This was the line up of the legendary Black Sabbath after the departure of original frontman Ozzy Osbourne, the line up that recorded the Heaven and Hell album (hence the current name for the band) and featuring the vocal talents of the metal legend Ronnie James Dio.

When I arrived at the fabulous Thebarton Theatre for the gig, I was amazed to see the queue of black-clad metal heads lined up so far down the street awaiting the opening of the event. With a capacity of just under two thousand people, this was surely a sold out show for the Thebby, as there appeared to be many more than this outside.

Since a large portion of the crowd were wearing Pantera T-shirts and were possibly a little too young to be Sabbath fans, I figured that there must have been a percentage of the large crowd here to see support act Down, featuring ex-members of metal bands Pantera and Corrosion of Conformity. Although Down frontman Phil Anselmo tried, and was mostly successful, at whipping the crowd into a frenzy, it was clear that it was the headliners that the people were here to see.

When the main act hit the stage, the roar from the crowd was deafening. With a stage set that would have looked at home in the film Spinal Tap, with large gothic cemetery gates and a matching stone backdrop, this was a metal head’s dream gig. Original Sabbath guitar legend Tony Iommi was an ominous presence on the stage, dressed in his trademark black leather, and diminutive frontman Dio still moves and sings like he did in his early years, with a voice much bigger than he is. For a band with such a dark and gloomy image, they certainly looked like they were enjoying themselves a little too much. By today’s standards, this show could have be viewed as a little corny, but these guys practically invented heavy metal and this was a flawless example of that style that has gone on to influence many of the heavy bands of today.

Even though the band’s set consisted of only songs from the era of this particular short lived Sabbath line up, excluding the most well known Sabbath hits such as Paranoid, War Pigs, Iron Man, etc…the crowd certainly seemed to be well versed in the set that was performed. During the two hour show, the energy in the room lasted right until the end of the obligatory single encore. By the time the house lights came on, it felt like a hot summer night until the doors opened and the satisfied crowd spilled out into the cold winter night once again.